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Jiu Jitsu in early America 1906

Hi all,

Sorry to re-post this, I think I had it in the wrong section.

I am doing some 'back history' on our Martial arts club here in New Zealand and I have come to a small halt, In June 1906 a group of Japanese 'obtained a position from the American Government' to instruct Martial arts to the San Francisco, Sacramento and Los Angeles Police force (for 18 months). One of the party was Mr Kiyo Kameda, who ended up settling in New Zealand.
My Question is, does anyone have any information about the group, where they were from?who was the leader of the party (Sensei)? did any of the Japanese stay in the U.S.

Early Judo of course was synthesized from jujutsu. The earliest known teacher in the US was Yamashita Yoshiaki (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yamashita_Yoshiaki), in 1903. He was also the first 10th dan in Kodokan Judo, being one of its earliest students.

It is also well-documented that President Theodore Roosevelt, in the first decade of the 1900s, had jujutsu instruction from Yamashita, right in the White House.

It seems like the early part of that century is a bit of a diaspora for jujitsu. Another famous practitioner, Mitsuyo Maeda, along with other kodokan experts, toured America and Europe to show the effectiveness of jujutsu, around this time.

One historian's take on this centers around Daito Ryu's famous Sokaku Takeda:

After the dissolution of the samurai in the late 1800’s contact with the Americans became more frequent for the Japanese. Not only was this the American’s first contact with the Japanese culture, but also with the Japanese martial arts. Sokaku, in one single event sparked wonder in the minds of Americans about the martial arts of Japan. In 1904 a fateful meeting between American teacher Charles Parry and Takeda Sokaku occurred on a train in Japan. An argument ensued between the two about seating in the first class section of the train, and inevitably Sokaku found it necessary to restrain the large foreigner. Amazed at how helpless he was against a 4’11” man, Parry reported to his superiors in the U.S. of the great power of Aikijujutsu. President Roosevelt sent for an Aikijujutsu instructor to come to the U.S. and put on a formal demonstration of the art. Takeda sent Police Officer Shinzo Harade between 1904 and 1910, who immediately gained great renown and many students including Charles Parry. He involved himself in the instruction of Police forces and in exhibitions for dignitaries and public officials.

Back to the original question: this does look like the same period that JJ came to Australia. Exactly when/how it then came to NZ, is not clear, but it seems that there would be a very likely line of transmission. Here's an article on JJ's introduction to Australia, when an Australian who'd received first dan in jujutsu returned to his country in 1905: